At the Wednesday, May 15 meeting, Clear Water honored a few of the organizations that are being funded in the 2023-2024 year. We welcomed representatives from Community Table, Eau Claire Municipal Band, Trinity Equestrian, L.E. Phillips Memorial Library (Give a Kid a Book Program), Boys and Girls Club (Cops n' Kids), WI Logging Museum, and the Children's Museum Each organization was asked to speak to how they will use the funds, and the impact was amazing! Some of the uses identified are below:
- The Eau Claire Municipal Band season kicks off June 3, and they will be playing at the Doll & Pet Parade June 1.
- The Community Table continues to serve every age group in our community and has served over 30,000 year this year.
- Trinity Equestrian focuses on equine therapy for children, adults, and veterans. They see 100 kids a week and have 34 horses.
- The L.E. Phillips Memorial Library's Give a Kid a book program has been in existence for 30 years and has given away over 4,000 books.
- Cops n' Kids at the Boys and Girls Club promotes healthy interaction with the police, as well as giving each child a book. It's in its 3rd year.
- The Children's Museum continues to provide quality programing and play for all children in our community, including a new sensory room.
- The WI Logging Museum has been working on the Tale Tales exhibit, aka the "big boot." They also announced that at this year's Chainsaw Championship, kids 12 years of under will be free.
This is the first year that Clear Water has teamed up with the Eau Claire Public School Foundation, and we cannot be happier with the partnership. It was wonderful to hear the stories from each grantee, who were presented with a certificate identifying our support. Pictures from the event can be found on our website: clearwaterkiwanis.org. A big thank you goes to Julie Eklund and the service committee, for organizing the event, and Ann Kaiser, who was the MC. We look forward to the next Service Awards luncheon, scheduled in June.